Thus shall you think of this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
Impermanence is the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux. Impermanence is an undeniable and inescapable fact of human existence and Buddhists believe that what is apparent and verifiable about our existence is the continuous change it undergoes.
No i haven't converted to Buddhism yet but having learned a little bit more about it in the last few weeks, it struck me that a manifestation of impermanence in Nepal is certainly its exposure to natural disasters...
A survey by KVERMP (Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Project) in 2003/2004 concluded that around 40,000 people might die and nearly 100,000 might suffer injury requiring hospital services when an earthquake of a magnitude similar to the great earthquake of 1934 (which was 8.4 on the Richter scale and killed 8000 people in under 1 minute) would hit the country.
It is also estimated that 6 out of 19 buildings would collapse, 95% of the water pipes would explode and 50% of the bridges could collapse, not to mention that the major hospitals would become non-operational in such an event. Anti-seismic building standards were only introduced in the National Building Code as of 2003 and the authorities used little to no control over new buildings being built. The government is now talking about retro-fitting existing buildings to adapt them to anti-seismic standards but you can only imagine the time and money this would take before the country is ready for the "next big one"...
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* source: Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium article on Wikipedia
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